Robert McKinley, Senior Analyst/Editor
Robert McKinley is an analyst of the payments industry on a daily basis for 32 years covering payment cards and payment systems from both the business side and the consumer side. McKinley is the retired founder and chief executive of RAM Research, CardWeb and CardTrak. In his prior position, McKinley has participated in more than 10,000 documented news media interviews, testified as an expert witness in two separate $billion+ U.S. anti-trust trials, testified before the U.S. Congress, assisted the GAO with paymentsIMG_2006 (1).jpeg reports, chaired numerous business conferences and provided C-Suite opinion to a multitude of Fortune 500 companies. In retirement, he has continued developing and funding digital media assets as well as contributing payments related analysis/content to a broad list of online publishers, including CardFlash, CardTrak and CardData. McKinley is also a national certified mentor with the non-profit SCORE organization with a focus on assisting Fintech startups. www.robert-mckinley.com

MasterCard announced that Sam Ahmed has been appointed to the role of group head, Marketing, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, where he will manage marketing teams and ensure brand positioning is executed effectively. He will also oversee the development of strategies and campaigns for MasterCard’s advertising, sponsorships, promotions, as well as digital and consumer marketing initiatives across APMEA. Ahmed most recently served as VP, Marketing & Category at Starbucks Coffee Asia Pacific. Before this he managed the Kraft regional beverage executive team and successfully led the growth in both market share and regional sales of various Asia Pacific beverage brands. Ahmed is a graduate of the Harvard Business School.

Western Union payment services launched “My WU” reloadable prepaid card in conjunction with Lottomatica, which is now part of the Western Union Global Share platform. Western Union launched new stored-value solutions in markets around the world by joining forces with local companies. The “My WU” prepaid card is designed to serve the more than 4 million registered migrant workers in Italy who need convenient access to financial services. The cards will be available at 15,000 Lottomatica Carta Lis locations throughout Italy and online at wu.com/it/mywu/prepaid. Customers also will have the option to reload their My WU prepaid cards at more than 22,000 locations and over 10,000 ATMs across Italy. The “My WU” cardholders will also be able to fund Western Union Money Transfer transactions using their cards at Lottomatica locations where the service is available.

Oberthur Technologies, one of the world’s largest providers of security and identification solutions and services based on smart card technologies, announced that MoreMagic, an Oberthur Technologies company, has joined the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program (MMPP), a program designed to help more than 2.5 billion financially-underserved consumers around the world use their mobile phones to access mainstream financial services. Through its MoreMagic Mobile Money offer, Oberthur Technologies enables a full suite of banking, payment and commerce services in areas where there is a lack of banking infrastructure. Relying on the industry’s most comprehensive suite of applications, the solution connects a global mobile financial ecosystem that links mobile operators, financial services organizations, retail distributors, NGOs and other businesses.

payworks mPOS processing partnered Orderman ordering and billing systems in the restaurant and hospitality business to build a Chip & PIN solutions for mobile ordering terminals. Orderman integrates the payworks mPOS SDK into their ordering and billing systems, enabling their merchants to accept payments with low cost and pocket size Chip & PIN devices. The combined solution will be presented at IGEHO, one of the largest exhibitions for the hotel sector, taking place in Basel/Switzerland from 23rd to 27th of November 2013. Orderman integrates the payworks mPOS SDK into their products. The implementation enables merchants using Orderman terminals to equip their staff with a fully certified, low cost credit card terminal, which they can carry around in their pockets, reducing checkout time significantly and enhancing the interaction with their guests. Prior the now introduced solution, the staff had to get a wireless terminal from the sales counter each time a customer wanted to pay by card.

On Track Innovations cashless payment solutions based on contactless transactions and near-field communication (NFC), has received official certification to use MasterCard’s “Mobile MasterCard PayPass – M/Chip 4” technology in OTI’s Wave, a new NFC add-on for smartphones, tablets and PC devices. The Wave is the industry’s first audio jack plug-in NFC payment solution and the only to receive certification from a major payment company like MasterCard. Based on OTI’s patented NFC technology, the compact Wave dongle is device agnostic, easily plugging into any smartphone, tablet or PC, allowing users to pay with their device while enjoying real-time benefits from loyalty programs and other incentives as delivered by the corresponding application. It opens up a whole new world of mobile device applications, while alleviating the burden of a wallet full of credit cards. With Public Key Infrastructure on the Java OS, it offers NFC payment performance.

ArgoPay is now allowing merchants to keep more money while rewarding credit card users. In any credit card transaction, at least seven middlemen get between a merchant and their money, sending between 2 and 5 % of purchases to these go-betweens. ArgoPay is disrupting the payment system, eliminating all of these intermediaries with a virtual credit card issued when you download the ArgoPay app. Merchants now get 0% processing fees without the need for any additional dongles or hardware to process payments. They also get instant access to a loyalty program for their best customers and a hassle-free way to send tempting offers to consumers who might become their next loyal customer.

CardConnect payment processing partnered OnDeck, which efficiently delivers capital to a market underserved by banks. This partnership extends immediate, pre-authorized and transparent funding to the 50,000 U.S. businesses using CardConnect to accept billions of dollars in transactions each year. With OnDeck’s technology platform integrated into CardConnect’s underwriting process, CardConnect merchants have immediate access to both payment processing and small business loans. CardConnect merchants can secure fixed amounts of capital — ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 — for what is typically 50 percent less expensive than a merchant cash advance.

Payment Alliance International (PAI) retail ATM solutions and Iberiabank announced they have entered into an agreement to brand ATMs in Rite Aid. As in other financial institution branding partnerships, PAI will own and operate the ATM placements, and IBERIABANK cardholders will enjoy surcharge free access for transactions made at IBERIABANK branded ATMs that can be found at select Rite Aid locations. As one of the largest ATM networks in the United States, PAI provides ATM services for over 60,000 retail locations nationwide and has been selected to provide ATM services for approximately 1,500 Rite Aid locations in the western, central, and southern United States.

[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”0″ ihc_mb_template=”1″] American Express reported 3Q net income of $1.4 billion, up 9% from the year ago period, while consolidated total revenues net of interest expense were up 6% to $8.3 billion, from $7.9 billion a year ago. The AmEx U.S. Card Services segment posted net income of $782 million, up 12% from…

iVeri’s EMV chip-and-PIN mobile payments solution, mPress has been approved by the Visa Ready program. Visa Ready is designed to provide innovators with an easy way to collaborate with Visa and quickly introduce Visa-compliant devices, software and solutions that can be used to initiate or accept Visa payments. As well as being Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliant, iVeri’s mPos services are EMV-approved and meet industry standards and best practices for mPOS devices according MasterCard, another major card network.

YESpay, the latest member of the WorldPay Group, is now deploying its Omni-channel Point-to-Point Encrypted (PTPE) integrated payment service to its first few UK high-street retailers fully ¬accredited by WorldPay Streamline. The solution achieves card data encryption within the Ingenico IPP350 PEDs (PIN Entry Devices) and decrypts the critical card data at the YESpay payment gateway within HSMs (Hardware Security Modules). YESpay’s PTPE solution complies with security recommendations specified by Visa ‘Data Field Security’ Best Practices and Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). YESpay has engaged its QSA, FortConsult, to audit and validate the solution to PCI SSC which is expected to complete in first half of 2014.

TSYS made available its 2013 Consumer Payment Choice Study, which consists of an online survey and in-person focus groups ” both of which were conducted to gauge current and potential future consumer payment preferences. The nationwide primary consumer research study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative data to highlight how consumers are making payments today and how that may change in the future. The results are meant to provide helpful information for use in developing and confirming payment strategies and initiatives. More than 1,000 consumers who have and use both a debit card and a credit card were surveyed on payment choice, indicating payment preferences vary by type of merchant and location, with credit being the preferred payment type for online purchases. meanwhile, rewards and discounts are the most effective way to influence consumers to use a payment type more often, whom actively use their mobile devices for overall financial activity.